Champs go down

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Donovan McNabb and his Philadelphia Eagles get another week to keep chasing that elusive Super Bowl crown. Eli Manning and the New York Giants get a whole offseason to wonder what went wrong.

McNabb made all the big plays that Manning did not, and the Eagles eliminated the Super Bowl champions 23-11 yesterday to reach the NFC title game for the fifth time in eight seasons.

Throw in Philadelphia's hard-hitting, ball-hawking defense, and these NFL playoffs are now for the Birds -- the underdog Eagles, Cardinals and Ravens all won on the road this weekend.

McNabb lunged for one touchdown, threw for another and converted several key third downs to move the sixth-seeded Eagles (11-6-1) into Sunday's title game at Arizona (11-7). Philadelphia beat the Cardinals 48-20 on Thanksgiving night.

"It feels like it was years ago," McNabb said.

Gusting, swirling winds played havoc with any ball in the air, and also helped produce an odd-looking score: This was the first game in NFL history to finish 23-11, the Elias Sports Bureau said.

A year after road success fueled the Giants' route, the Eagles are taking the same path. They opened the postseason by winning at Minnesota and, after their sixth victory in seven tries, look nothing like a team that needed several breaks on the final day simply to make the playoffs.

David Akers added three field goals -- extending his NFL record to 18 straight in the postseason -- to fend off the top-seeded Giants (12-5).

Manning never resembled the quarterback who won last year's Super Bowl with that one perfect spiral to Plaxico Burress. MVP of that huge upset over New England, Manning was in trouble from the start. His first pass wobbled out of his hand, got caught in the wind and missed a wide-open receiver.

Manning ended up 15 of 29 with two interceptions, often overthrowing his targets. The Giants did not score a touchdown and lost for the fourth time in five games.

"It all comes down to what you do in the playoffs. That makes your season a good one or a disappointment," Manning said. "This is a disappointment.

"We felt this was a special team that could go far. The defense played outstanding today and gave us opportunities. Offensively, we didn't do our job. We didn't score enough points."

By the final two minutes, more than half the crowd had left; Big Blue hasn't won a playoff game at Giants Stadium since 2000.

"In the locker room, there was so much energy in there. We were ready to play early in the week," McNabb said. "The city of Philadelphia is buzzing; this team is buzzing."

Three road teams won on the same weekend in the NFL playoffs for the first time since 1971. Also for the first time, none of the top three seeds in the NFC made it to the conference championship.

With Arizona and Philadelphia advancing, it guaranteed the NFC will send a team with no more than nine wins in a full, regular season to the Super Bowl since the Los Angeles Rams in 1979. Those Rams lost to the Steelers.

Playing in freezing temperatures with a swirling wind, it was the kind of game many people expected from teams meeting for the eighth time in three seasons. Several skirmishes broke out early and the bruising hits lasted all afternoon.

Philadelphia ------------------------- 7 3 3 10--23
N.Y. Giants ------------------------- 3 5 3 0--11
First Quarter

NYG--FG Carney 22, 9:59.

Phi--McNabb 1 run (Akers kick), 5:58.
Second Quarter

NYG--Team safety, 12:34.

NYG--FG Carney 34, 1:33.

Phi--FG Akers 25, :00.
Third Quarter

NYG--FG Carney 36, 12:33.

Phi--FG Akers 35, 7:45.
Fourth Quarter

Phi--Celek 1 pass from McNabb (Akers kick), 14:56.

Phi--FG Akers 20, 3:58.

A--79,193.
Phi

NYG
First downs-------------------------20 16
Total Net Yards-------------------------276 307
Rushes-yards-------------------------28-59 32-138
Passing yards-------------------------217 169
Passes-------------------------22-40-2 15-29-2
Sacked-yards lost-------------------------0-0 0-0
Punt returns-yards-------------------------1-0 3-8
Kickoff ret.-yards-------------------------4-108 6-180
Interceptions Ret.-------------------------2-30 2-17
Punts-------------------------4-42.0 2-45.0
Fumbles-lost-------------------------0-0 1-1
Penalties-yards-------------------------8-61 6-49
Time of possession-------------------------29:45 30:15
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Philadelphia, Westbrook 18-36, McNabb 5-16, Buckhalter 5-7. N.Y. Giants, Jacobs 19-92, Ward 12-46, Manning 1-0.

PASSING -- Philadelphia, McNabb 22-40-2-217. N.Y. Giants, Manning 15-29-2-169.

RECEIVING -- Philadelphia, D.Jackson 4-81, Avant 4-43, Curtis 4-40, Buckhalter 3-19, Celek 3-12, L.Smith 2-12, Westbrook 2-10. N.Y. Giants, Ward 5-24, Boss 3-52, Hixon 2-37, Toomer 2-26, Smith 2-17, D.Johnson 1-13.

MISSED FIELD GOALS -- N.Y. Giants, Carney 46 (WR), 47 (WL).